User:Tdallyn

Christian Hansen & The Autistics is a four member musical group out of Edmonton, Alberta. Formed in the fall of 2007, the band consists of two couples, Christian Hansen and Molly Flood; Scott Shpeley and Ava Jane Markus. The band describes themselves as "the dazzle of disco mixed with the immediacy of punk rock. A dangerous sweat and love fest of epic proportions." They built up a local following in Edmonton before beginning a cross Canada tour and gaining radio play on CBC radio. All of this led to their first full length album, Power Leopard, which debuted March 2009.

Early Years
Christian Hansen and the Autistics formed as a band in 2007. Shortly after, they released a short three song demo, Power Leopard EP, and its single "Cocaine Trade" won Song of the Year from local newspaper The Edmonton Journal. With this build of momentum, CHATA won Sonic's Band of the Month February 2009 and by the end of February, the band sold out their venue in just 6 minutes. In March of 2009, they were awarded a $10, 000 development grant for Edmonton artists from Rawlco Radio, owner of Edmonton's Magic 99 radio station. This grant lead to the band's first full length album "Power Leopard".

First Full Length Album
in March 2009, Christian Hansen and the Autistics released their debut full-length album in titled Power Leopard. The album was produced and recorded by Doug Organ of Edmontone studios. Power Leopard gained recognition with the singles of “Cocaine Trade” and “Pump it”, which were put into rotation on Edmonton’s Sonic 102.9 FM. The album received numerous accolades. “Cocaine Trade” became the 4th most requested song of the year on Sonic 102.9 FM, and was also declared song of the year by Sandra Sperounes of the Edmonton Journal. Power Leopard reached number 5 on Megatunes top 30 record sales for the week of September 10, 2009. They most recently released “Swans”, a four song EP on June 4, 2010. The next full-length album is expected to release in September 2011.

DIscography
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Albums
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EPs
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Singles & Music Videos
Cocaine Trade http://www.youtube.com/embed/iJrJ47H-_Bo

Members
Christian Hansen: Vocals/Guitar Scott Shpeley: Bass/Vocals Molly Flood: Keyboard/Vocals/Dance moves Ava Jane Markus: Keyboard/Vocals/Dance moves

Awards
Voted one of Edmonton's Favorite Bands in SEE Magazine In March 2009 they Released debut full length POWER LEOPARD. 2 songs from the album were picked up by Sonic 102.9FM and XM Satellite Radio They were nominated for Best New Artist by XM Radio, played SLED ISLAND, NMW, Boonstock, and NXNE (June 2010). Edmonton Journal published an article naming Christian Hansen & The Autistics as 2008 Song of the Year. Stuart Derdeyn from Vancouver's Province Newspaper included us in his TOP 10 PERFORMANCES OF 2009.

Miscellaneous
All the members of the band are University of Alberta alumni, graduating with Bachelors of Fine Arts in Drama. The band also consists of two couples, Scott Shpeley and Ava Jane Markus; as well as Christian Hansen and Molly Flood who got married September 5, 2009. The band’s name has been a controversial topic but the band has maintained a positive outlook towards their name saying they are paying homage to Autism and the people it affects. In 2009, Hansen told an interviewer, “People have thought that we're making fun of autistic people, but nothing could be further from the truth. The name is an absolute tribute,” 2009 was also the same year Christian Hansen won an award for Support Worker of the Year from the Autism Society of Edmonton for his actions working with autism and other diseases.